John Wright off to winning start as New Zealand coach

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Having been whitewashed on the tours of Bangladesh and India only a few months ago, New Zealand have got off to a flying start in their home season under their new coach John Wright, who has had a big reputation.

Registering back to back victories in the Twenty20 Internationals against the unpredictable Pakistanis, the Black Caps have gained an unassailable lead in the three-match series which is already being talked about as quite an accomplishment from a team so low in confidence.

The appointment of Wright as coach was bound to make a difference for the New Zealanders and we have already found it out in the first couple of games when even a depleted side of their has won both the matches quite convincingly.

If New Zealand continue their winning streak and pocket the third and final T20I as well it would be a unique whitewash by a team which itself had suffered similar humiliation in the earlier two series.

Bangladesh and India had humbled New Zealand in nine consecutive limited overs games, all of them being One-day Internationals. I think it doesn’t matter much for them even if their conquest has come in the shortest format of the game.

The win-starved New Zealanders needed something under their belt to regain confidence that could take them to the World Cup to be held in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka only a couple of months later.

They have to take on Pakistan in a series of six ODIs after the two Tests that follow the T20Is. In normal circumstances New Zealand would have preferred playing ODIs straight after the T20 games instead of squeezing a Test series but I think this has been done to give the hosts the much needed practice of 50-overs game on the dates closest to the World Cup.

There were indications that the New Zealand cricket administrators were shaken by the debacle of their team in Bangladesh and India. Well if it served as a wake-up call and prompted them to turn to Wright then this could well prove to be a blessing in disguise for their cause.

I don’t know why did they take so long to get hold of the man who was very much there with them. Wright was the person who turned it around for India and taught them the art of winning matches away from the comfort of home.

Wright’s role as a coach in building the India team of today is phenomenal. The former New Zealand captain made a perfect combination with Sourav Ganguly and they put India on the road to glory.

The cool headed Wright instilled the confidence which was somehow missing even in the star-studded Indian line-up. He was accorded the respect he deserved and together they made things happen.

Now the New Zealand cricket needed him to lift the morale of a demoralized outfit. It has only been weeks when he was handed over the charge and the results have come instantly. This is a belated move but nevertheless one in the right direction and as they say better late than never.

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Pakistan to play snooker series in Iran

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Pakistan will be engaged in a bilateral snooker series against the neighbouring Iran on an annual basis with the inaugural event to be held in Tehran early next year.

Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, President, Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), disclosed that the decision regarding the launch of the Pakistan-Iran Test series was taken in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart on the sidelines of the recently concluded IBSF World Snooker Championship 2010 in Damascus, Syria.

“The Iranian officials came up with the idea of initiating a Test series that could be held annually on reciprocal basis. It was agreed that Tehran would be the venue of the inaugural Test series Pakistan and Iran in February next while the Iranians will be paying a return visit in 2012,” the PBSA President revealed.

It may be recalled that the PBSA had launched a Test series against in 2003 that was known initially as the Peace Cup. Two more editions of the Indo-Pak series were held during the next couple of years but it has not been staged for the past five years now.

Alamgir Shaikh, who also attended the Annual General Meeting of the IBSF in Damascus, disclosed that the venues of the next two editions of the World Snooker Championship were finalized after some deliberations.

“Bahrain has been chosen as the host of the World Championship next year while Egypt will be playing host to the mega event the following year,” he said.

“It was also decided in the IBSF meeting that Thailand would be hosting the World 6-Reds Championship during the month of February 2011 besides organizing the World Team Snooker Championship in July 2011,” the PBSA President added.

Meanwhile he expressed his disappointment with the failure of the country’s top three cueists in the knockout games of the World Snooker Championship 2010, staged at the Al-Faiha Sports City in Damascus.

The PBSA President, who returned to Karachi with the trio of Mohammad Sajjad, Sohail Shahzad and Imran Shahzad, did not mince words in stating that he expected better performance from his cueists in the knockout games.

“Yes I am perturbed with the outcome. All of them had performed exceptionally well in the league matches and we were hoping for at least one of them to go the distance. Imran had started even the knockout round with a bang but he was overwhelmed in the pre-quarter-finals,” the PBSA President remarked.

“Imran couldn’t play to his potential in the pre-quarters, getting outplayed at the hands of the vastly experienced Alex Borg. Debutant Sohail was unlucky to be knocked out because his opponent, Noppadol Sangnil, got away with a couple of freakish shots that proved decisive in what had become a very absorbing contest,” Alamgir Shaikh recalled.

“The straight-frame loss of our main hope and top ranked cueist, Sajjad, to Dechawat Poomjaeng was very disturbing for us. A cueist of the caliber of Sajjad, having done well at the international stage in the past, was certainly expected to come up with much better performance,” he conceded.

The PBSA President agreed that Pakistan’s young and promising cueists have had problems in overcoming the pressures of knockout games.

“It’s true to some extent because it has happened in the past as well when our cueists have failed to deliver in the knockout games after having dominated their rivals in the earlier rounds. They need to bring about improvement in their temperament besides learning the tact of the trade,” Alamgir Shaikh reckoned.

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Tendulkar’s 50th century comes three Tests too late

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

I don’t think there was any real cause to celebrate when Sachin Tendulkar brought up his 50th Test century at the Super Sport Park in Centurion on December 19 except that he had reached the landmark.

India needed much more than just a token hundred from Tendulkar to change the course of the game in which they had been humiliated on the first three days. The damage control exercise demanded at least a double century from him but as we have witnessed so many times he failed to deliver.

What’s more important a personal landmark or glory for the team? Cricket is a team game therefore the greatness should be measured by the contribution to the cause of the team rather than the loads of runs or the heaps of wicket that don’t serve the purpose.

Getting to 50 centuries in Test cricket is no doubt a huge accomplishment. Nobody has done it before and neither anyone might be able to do it in the near future.

With the number of Test matches getting reduced with the advent of the popularity of the limited overs game it seems very unlikely that anybody would be able to get an opportunity to play so many Test matches in the years to come.

Tendulkar has been around for over two decades, having made his Test debut in November 1989. With the frequency of limited overs games on the rise the career span of cricketers is shrinking and it could be next to impossible for a starter to think in terms of surviving there in the international arena for so long.

Tendulkar’s record of the highest number of Test centuries is certain to stand for a very long time. The kind of form he has been in during the current year he can still get many more hundreds unless of course the external factors come into play.

Talking about the outside factors wasn’t it a pity that Tendulkar wasn’t able to reach this milestone in India when he had as many as three Test matches to do it against the struggling New Zealanders.

Well not many people would disgaree that Tendulkar could have got a hundred against if he so desired even by batting left-handed because the New Zealand bowling attack had no penetrative skills on the surfaces where Harbhajan Singh was able to play long innings without the slightest of discomfort.

Tendulkar was in the middle of a purple patch and there was no team in the world that could have stopped him from reaching a century in those conditions. His soft dismissals were totally against the run of play.

He batted with in his usual fluent style in both the innings of the Centurion Test but neither of his knock was big enough to take the fight to the South African camp.

It’s amazing that he made no effort to avoid an innings defeat on the final morning. His tactics of exposing the tail-enders to the genuinely quick bowlers was mind boggling to say the least. He was expected to play both ends which he didn’t for reasons best known to him.

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Hussey, Johnson present sweetest birthday gift to skipper Ponting

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Although it was the six-wicket haul by Ryan Harris that helped Australia in wrapping up the third Test at the WACA Ground in Perth within an hour on the fourth morning it was the sensational performance of Mike Hussey and Mitchell Johnson that had turned it around for the hosts from a precarious position on the first day.

How often can one expect a team to win a Test match by 267 runs after having been reduced to 69 for five in the first innings after being put into bat. The momentum was with England and they were more likely to claim an unassialble 2-0 lead rather than Australia squaring the matters before the last two games.

That’s sometimes the beauty of the game when a couple of individuals rise to the occasion to cover up for the follies of their teammates. Nobody was surprised with yet another magnificent performance from Hussey for he’s regained his devastating form and there’s no stopping him when he gets on top.

But the home supporters must have been pleasantly surprised by the feat of Johnson, who was actually making a comeback in the side after having been dropped for the previous game because of his inconsistency for the past many months.

It’s quite incredible how Johnson rose to the occasion. His half-century down the order was instrumental in reviving Australia but more importantly, as it turned out, he carried the confidence to his bowling that gladdened the heart of his skipper.

Johnson struck just when England appeared to be extending their dominance with the bat and it was his terrific spell of left-arm fast bowling that brought his team right back in the game. Australia didn’t surrender the initiative after getting a substantial first innings lead in the context of the game.

With the pitch still good for batting and England having scored heavily in the past couple of games, Australia had to set a big enough target to challenge opponents and it was ensured by yet another mercurial century by Hussey.

The momentum had shifted by the time England started their chase for 391 on the third evening. Unlike the first two Tests when the Australian bowlers had struggled putting balls in the right areas they were able to exert the pressure that made the difference in the end.

Not many people would have backed England to win the game although South Africa had successfully chased down an even bigger total at this ground just a few years ago. It became obvious very quicky that the pressure had gone to the head of the visiting batsmen and they were unable to handle it.

The top half was blown on the third evening and there was not much hope from the lower order as the innings resumed on the fourth day. Harris produced another probing spell of fast bowling to help his team complete the much needed win within 50minues.

Ponting, even with a broken finger, could not have expected a bigger gift on his 36th birthday and he acknowledged in there.

“There's no better birthday present than that, to bounce back like this. To get 270 on the board on that first day was probably the difference in the end, and then Johnson's spell on day two was probably one of the all-time greatest spells in Ashes history. I'm a bit sore today, I wanted more than anything to be able to go out there and field, but I had to err on the side of caution. Another knock on the finger could have been disastrous. I think I'm a really good chance of playing the Boxing Day Test," Ponting, at last a victorious captain, remarked.

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Rare assembly of World Cup legends

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The countdown to the ICC World Cup 2011 has already begun and the mega event is just a couple of months away now. Four of the greatest cricketers of all time, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Arjuna Ranatunga and Viv Richards, were in attendance in a ceremony held recently in India in connection with the upcoming tournament.

It’s not often when these legends have been found under one more roof and more specifically in the company of each other. Their reunion instantly brings to memory their extraordinary performance in the past editions of the World Cup.

Viv Richards (now Sir Vivian) had not exploded in the role of a master in the inaugural World Cup in 1975 but his amazing fielding in the final when he ran out quite a few dashing Australian batsmen with brilliant throws helped the cause of the West Indies immensely in getting crowned as the champions.

Richards had enhanced his reputation by the time the next World Cup was played four years later. He lived to the billing and it was his magnificent century in the final against England that allowed his team to retain the trophy rather leisurely in the end.

He was easily the most destructive batsman in the world when the West Indies came out to England in 1983 with very high hopes of completing a hat-trick of title wins. They were on course of accomplishing this feat with Richards playing another cameo in the final, this time against underdogs India.

It took a spectacular running catch from the Indian captain, Kapil Dev, to remove Richards from the scene and the complexion of the game changed soon afterwards. It was Kapil Dev, not Clive Lloyd, who received the trophy at Lord’s on June 25, 1983.

Pakistan and India, captained by Imran Khan and Kapil Dev respectively, were the overwhelming favourites to clash in the final in 1987 but neither of them could go that far. Both of them were eliminated in the semifinals much to the disappointment of the millions of their supporters.

Imran Khan, by then a veteran all-rounder at the twilight of his illustrious career, didn’t have a particularly strong team at his disposal when Pakistan took the field in the World Cup in Australia in 1992.

Pakistan were languishing near the bottom of the table at the halfway stage of the tournament but then commenced their fairytale success and they exceeded all expectations by winning the event against the heaviest of odds. Imran was instrumental in lifting the morale of the side after the depressing defeats in the earlier games.

The Sri Lankans, however, were the favourites to win the World Cup in 1996 and they did exactly that under the shrewd leadership of Arjuna Ranatunga.

They were rewarded for playing sensational cricket and they pioneered the concept of pinch hitting from the outset. Their bold tactics worked to perfection as there was not much for the bowlers on the flat sub-continental pitches.

Ranatunga was chiefly responsible for taking the risk of attacking cricket. He himself batted very well, particularly his knock in the final against Australia at Qaddafi Stadium, Lahore, ensured there were no hiccups in the closing stages.

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India hard done on opening day of high profile series

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The score of 136 for nine in 38.1 overs reflects complete dominance of the bowling side. But it wasn’t exactly the case on the opening day of the first Test between South Africa and India at the Super Sport Park in Centurion on December 16.

India finished the shortened day’s proceedings with an inadequate score but it wasn’t shameful batting performance by any means in conditions tailor-made for the home bowlers. None of their top-order batsmen were guilty of throwing away their wicket while trying anything silly or adventurous. Neither was there any indication of lack of application on their part.

On the other hand it was one of those forgettable days when almost everything went against them. It remains to be seen if they will be able to recover from this precarious position. They have the potential to stage a comeback but how quickly their luck would change to let them regroup can’t be predicted.

Everybody, not only the experts, knew about the weather and the pitch. It went to the credit of the ground staff to have made the play possible during the day even after 10 centimeters of rain in morning.

The tale of horror began from India right from the beginning. They would have been better off getting no play on the first day in order to let their spearhead Zaheer Khan get some more time to recover and assess his fitness afresh on the second morning.

As it turned out, India had to leave out their most experienced fast bowler when Mahendra Singh Dhoni went to toss. No team would have liked to bat first in such trying conditions and Graeme Smith had no hesitation in inserting the opponents.

Dhoni’s misfortune with the toss is nothing new. He has admitted it so many times that calling correctly is something beyond him. He has made up for his rotten luck with the coin by motivating his team further.

India suffered another blow, the first after the start of the innings, when Virender Sehwag, unquestionably the most destructive batsman in the world, was caught at deep third man for a duck. It’s very rare indeed for someone to be caught in that position and that too so early in the innings. As a matter of fact there’s hardly any fielder in the deep on the off side in the first few overs of a Test match.

The dismissal of Sehwag meant so much in the context of the game. He possessed the skill to score the quickly and his mere presence at the crease would have been heart breaking for the bowlers.

His opening partner, Gautam Gambhir, weathered the storm for a while but he couldn’t stay for long enough. Rahul Dravid was looking very solid but fell to his first error of the day. Sachin Tendulkar counterattacked with purpose but he paid the price of staying on the backfoot to a full pitched delivery he could have driven if standing normally.

With the top six batsmen back in the hut for only 71, skipper Dhoni found an assured partner in Harbhajan Singh who probably played the innings of his career. He looked set for a big score only to be run out in the most cruel of manners, summing up a nightmarish day for his team.

Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, who were just ordinary in the two-Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), made the most of the lucky breaks to put their side in the driving seat.

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Formidable yet unpredictable India hold slight edge in clash of Titans

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Several articles are being written and many talk shows aired already on this subject and why not. This is the series between the two top ranked Test sides and there is very little to choose between them.

Primarily because of the conditions over there the South Africans are being rated a bit higher but I have a different opinion in this matter. Gone are the days when the home advantage decided the fate of the series. With neutral umpires and extensive television coverage there’s not much disadvantage to the visiting team.

Yes I agree that the South Africans have greater experience of playing on their turf but that doesn’t mean they can’t be floored in their own backyard by a superior outfit. The current Indian team, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, stands a very good chance of winning the Test series in South Africa.

I think the hosts could be low on confidence, no matter what their captain or coach may be saying publicly, because of their inability to win any of the two Test matches against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently.

Neither did the South Africans bat convincingly nor did they sustain pressure with their bowling. Allowing Pakistan to get away with it on both occasions was a clear reflection of their opponents lacking the firepower to close the deal.

The Pakistan team they were confronted was very short on experience, besides having a new captain. As a matter of fact the entire Pakistan team had less number of Test runs or wickets than Jacques Kallis.

Remember that Ricky Ponting’s Australians had lost a Test match to a similar Pakistan in England earlier this year. What has happened since then for the Aussies is nothing short of a nightmare.

Well the South Africans didn’t play bad enough to lose to Pakistan but they were not good enough either to overpower their inexperienced rivals. We will have to wait and see how much they get affected after the below par performance in the desert.

Graeme Smith is banking on weather and pitch to derail India. Obviously the batsmen would be tested with plenty of short stuff and there could be banana swing as well if it continues to be overcast.

In my estimation the Indian batsmen of all people are more likely to come to grips with these conditions. They can collapse once or twice but the possibilities of them to folding every time appear very remote indeed.

The Indian fast bowlers would certainly enjoying doing the job in South Africa rather than back home. The absence of Zaheer Khan will leave a big hole and the responsibility will have to be shared by the other bowlers.

But it are the Indian batsmen who hold the key.If they put runs on the board, Dhoni will have the liberty to set attacking fields for his bowlers, a factor which could bring the home batsmen under greater pressure.

The Indian supporters should, however, not lose sight of the fact that their team despite being so formidable on paper has that knack of faltering against the run of play. That’s why I think India hold just a slight edge over South Africa.

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Pakistan’s cueists fail to deliver in crunch games

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Pakistan’s campaign in the IBSF World’s Men Snooker Championship 2010, staged at the Al-Faiha Sports City in Damascus, Syria, came to a premature end with the exit of Imran Shahzad in the pre-quarter-finals on December 13

There were high hopes of the world crown returning to Pakistan after 16 long years when all the three participating cueists, Mohammad Sajjad, Sohail Shahzad and Imran Shahzad, had played remarkably well in the league matches.

While Sajjad and Sohail were eliminated in the round of 32, Imran went through to the pre-quarters where he was toppled by the veteran Alex Borg of Malta.

The vastly experienced Borg proved too much for Imran to down him 5-1 in the best of nine-frame encounter that remained one sided all the way. Borg triumphed with the frame scores of 61-24, 117-0, 78-33, 100-14, 43-62, 78-26.

Imran had stormed into the pre-quarters with an astonishing 5-1 win over Andreas Ploner of Austria with the frame scores of 102-0, 41-54, 112-32, 113-11, 79-27, 104-21 as he registered as many as two century breaks during the game in which he aggregated over 100 in two other frames as well.

The cueists from Thailand blew the whistle on the other two Pakistani youngsters, who had been in terrific form in the earlier games.

Noppadol Sangnil, who was the only cueist to have overpowered Mohammad Sajjad in the league matches, outwitted Sohail Shahzad 5-3 in their round of 32 fixture with the frame scores of 121-11, 102-8, 34-71, 70-28, 35-62, 54-62, 70-51.

It was certainly a keenly contested tie and the young Sohail, making his debut in the World Championship, had the satisfaction of having gone down fighting.

Dechawat Poomjaeng was even more ruthless while hammering Mohammad Sajjad in straight frames with the scores of 71-36, 72-71, 78-24, 83-42, 65-44. Pakistan’s premier cueist offered a challenge in each of the five frames, with the second one being the closest, but could not press home the advantage in any of them.

The failure of the Pakistan’s cueists in the knockout games once again brought to light their inability to handle the pressure. There remained question marks over their mental toughness.

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